Outbreak at the Containment Facility

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Concurrent:	Battle of the Silent Cartographer Raid on the Pillar of Autumn Assault on the Control Room
Next:	Raid on the Library Skirmish on Infinite Succor
Outbreak at the Containment Facility
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War Battle of Installation 04
Date:	September 20, 2552
Location:	Installation 04, around a Flood containment facility
Outcome:	Flood victory Flood escapes and spreads Heavy losses of Covenant forces Heavy losses and significant psychological trauma for UNSC Marines
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Forerunner constructs Covenant Flood (Uncoordinated feral stage) Commanders Captain Jacob Keyes Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson SPARTAN John-117 343 Guilty Spark Unknown None Strength UNSC Pelican Victor 086 Pelican Victor 933 Pelican Echo 419 Fireteam Charlie Second squad Forerunner constructs Sentinels Covenant Ground forces Sangheili Unggoy Kig-Yar Covenant dropship Brilliant Gift Flood Infection Forms Combat Forms Casualties Pelican Victor 933 Captain Keyes captured and infected Most Marines Some Sentinels All forces Many Flood

A massive outbreak at a Flood Containment Facility was the turning point of the UNSC and Covenant's involvement in the Battle of Installation 04, where the two sides proved unprepared for a third enemy: the Flood.

Prelude

Following the activation of the Halo Array at the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, the Forerunners kept samples of the Flood contagion in Flood containment facilities spread across their installations for study. During the ongoing campaign for control of Installation 04 in September 2552, the Prophet of Stewardship dispatched secondary and tertiary artifact hunting groups to what was believed to be a Forerunner weapons cache. These teams encountered the Flood and fell silent, eventually leading the Prophet to send a fourth before Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee reprimanded the Prophet for misallocation of military resources.

While the upper levels were cleared, the lower levels were infested and some Sangheili commanders were lost in the process. During this time, a Sangheili warrior named 'Qualomee purported to deliver a cache of weapons to the Covenant troops in this facility, though he was eventually captured by UNSC forces and interrogated for hours in Alpha Base.

Despite the success of the Raid on the Pillar of Autumn conducted by Lieutenant Melissa McKay bringing much-needed supplies to fortify Alpha Base, Captain Jacob Keyes decided to personally lead a small force of Marines to investigate the supposed weapons cache. The marines were inserted by Pelican Victor 086 into the swamps surrounding the facility, and proceeded to make their way inside on foot.

The raid

UNSC forces were split into first squad and second squad. First squad's Fireteam Charlie, led by Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, were first deployed from Victor 086. Charlie exited the Pelican into the water of the swamp, with Wallace Jenkins located towards the rear of the formation. Charlie met with Captain Keyes and second squad, though the two groups later split up and made their way through the swamp independently. Private Bisenti were ordered to wait by the facility entrance for the captain to arrive while the rest of Charlie entered the structure.

Recovered footage from Jenkins' helmet cam, in the moment before the parasite attacked.

The captain would eventually arrive, with second squad—led by Corporal Lovik—ordered to guard by the entrance. Once inside, Keyes noted that the situation of the facility was entirely different from expected; where they had expected Covenant arms caches and guards was nothing. After exploring for ten minutes, Charlie would stumble across the body of a dead Special Operations Sangheili, as well as many other dead Covenant troops. Unusually, the alien's chest cavity was ripped open in a manner not consistent with human weaponry. When Keyes arrived, Johnson would reaffirm that the dead aliens were not Fireteam Charlie's doing - they had been killed prior to the arrival of the UNSC. Another five minutes of exploring later, and the squad came across a large, locked metal door. Keyes ordered the door opened, despite